1994, the unit was relocated to its current home station at Camp Hansen, in Okinawa, Japan. Iraq 1998-99 The flexibility of the MEU was demonstrated with the Iraq crisis in late 1998 regarding the regime not complying with the U.N. weapons inspections process. All four ARG ships had just completed Exercise Foal Eagle off the coast of Korea, and were heading to various port visits for liberty, when each ship received the call in early Nov 1998 to sail immediately to Okinawa to onload the 31st MEU. A significant portion of the 31st MEU's 2000 Marines were engaged in urban warfare training in Guam when their message to return to Okinawa came in November. The rest were still in Okinawa, but approximately a quarter of those were a new infantry battalion, just rotating in from California. The battalion had just two days to gather all their personnel to get ready to deploy. The 31st MEU and ships' company personnel started their initial onloads to the ships on 9 November and completed the morning of 11 Nov. In one night alone, they loaded more than 170 pallets of equipment, weapons, and cargo. In addition, a C-5 Galaxy from Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, originally scheduled to bring maintenance supplies and tools to Okinawa two weeks later, arrived early on 10 November 1998 in order to restock the MEU's Air Combat Element. This evolution was a part of the normal supply rotation, but the shipment arrived a week early – just in time to load onto the ships before they departed. From Nov 1998 to Feb 1999, the MEU participated in operations in the Persian Gulf and off the coast of Kuwait, including Operation Southern Watch and Operation Desert Fox. East Timor Marines of 31 MEU (SOC) deployed with Amphibious Squadron Eleven (PhibRon 11) to support Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations in East Timor in September 1999 until November of that same year. The Air Combat Element (ACE) and portions of the Battalion Landing Team (BLT) supported East Timor operations and the ACE supported the ground operations of the ADF. The Marines and sailors were embarked aboard the Amphibious Assault Ship USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3) and conducted "lily pad" operations all around East Timor using the ship's large flight deck as a staging and refueling platform for Allied air operations in support of International Forces East Timor (INTERFET) commanded by the